"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" Ephesians 3:20

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Made it to Guangzhou

We made it safely & smoothly to Guangzhou. It seems we have brought the bug with us though. My sweet little Jeb is running fever now :(. This could be tricky as he really needs his mama when he is sick. He is sleeping now. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Prayers appreciated... Loden & I no longer have fever, but still have the head cold. We just aren't 100%. Naomi on the other hand, is WIDE open! :) She is in to everything & wants to eat everything (ALL the time :) She's a MESS! The good news is ... She sleeps a lot too!! :)) lol...... She slept the entire flight to Guangzhou. She sleeps all night long too. She's really starting to warm up to the boys a lot. She's letting them hold her & play with her. They feel so much better about things now.

Just a few pics of our travel day.

On the bus headed to the airport

Waiting to board the plane.... How cute are they?!

Ready to go!

And AS SOON as we took off until we landed.... this was her :))

And she livened up on the bus ride to the hotel.

We met our new guide Jocelyn & she is wonderful!!! I can already tell Guangzhou is going to be so much better. She had an itinerary typed up for us with local restaurants listed & how far the walk, drive, etc. is. Tomorrow we will take Naomi for a medical exam. Then later in the week we will go out for a group dinner one night, to the Pearl Market & on a Pearl River Cruise one night. Our hotel is SUPER nice. Almost too nice for 4 kiddos! lol It has a Starbucks in it & McDonald's across the street, so we're all good :) Thanks again for the thoughts & prayers. We are in the home stretch now! One week to go!!

YAY!! So JOYFUL she's such a GREAT sleeper! Yay for itineraries and directions and a much better outlook! Continuing to pray for HEALING! Lovin' Jeb and Naomi pics, they are TOO CUTE! You're on the homestretch! :)

Praying for all of you to feel better, and just wanted you to know how in love with your family I am. Your boys look so precious with their new sister! I would love to meet you guys once you are back home and settled! We are waiting on our LOA and hope to travel to get our daughter sometime this summer. May God bless you and heal you for the remainder of your time in China, and your return home!

Naomi's Story

Naomi was abandoned on July 4, 2008 in Hebi City, Jun County at the Xiaohe Road Intersection. The Hebi City Jun County Public Service Bureau Liyang Police Station conducted a thorough search, and as they could not locate her parents or other relatives, she was confirmed an abandoned infant. According to her physical condition, her birth date was estimated to be April 20, and she was named according to the generational character for the year 2008 (Yun), and when this baby girl arrived, the weather was very hot, so she was given the name Yun Yan.

Naomi was transferred to Hope Foster Home when she was 8 months old. She had her cleft lip repair & nose deformity on October 30, 2009. She had her cleft palate repair on May 20, 2010. She was sponsored by a wonderful family who gave her the beautiful name, Naomi just after her first birthday. She arrived at Maria's Big House of Hope, in Louyang, Henan, China in July 2010 where she lived for almost 2 years. She was joined with her forever family on April 16, 2012.

Our Adoption Timeline

April 23, 2011: Saw 1st pic of Naomi

April 25: Had our friend Kelly call Show Hope to see if Naomi was "paper ready". Found out her paperwork had been started around April 1st

April 27: Knew for sure God was calling us to adopt Naomi. Emailed Show Hope for more info which was forwarded to CCAI (our adoption agency)

April 29: Filled out a waiting child checklist with CCAI

May 4: Filled out application for adoption
May 11: Application was approved

May 16: Began dossier paperchase

May 31: First Home Study visit

June 20: Home Study complete (waiting on background checks)

July 1: Naomi is prayer focus child for Show Hope :)

July 22: Background checks arrive
July 25: Home Study complete & sent to CCAI & USCIS

July 28: I800A application sent to USCIS for approval

August 12: Recieved fingerprint appointments

August 15: Fingerprinted 20 days before appt date!

August 24: Recieved a call from CCAI that Naomi's file came in "LID Only"